Clamps for concrete forms



0, 1957 H. w. STANLEY ET AL 2,803,055

CLAMPS FORCONCRETE FORMS Original Filed April 29, 1949 gwovwbom-sATTORNEY United States Patent CLAMPS FOR CONCRETE FORMS Harry W.Stanley, Arlington, and Ralph H. Stanley, Glendale, Calif., assignors ofone-fifth to Charles N. Stanley, Glendale, Calif.

Claims. (Cl; 29-286) This invention relates to. clamping devices.designed especially for use in supporting a panel in a concrete form inspaced relation to a re-inforcing truss, although the invention is notlimited to this particular application.

This application is a division of our copending application Serial No.90,378, filed April 29, 1949, now Patent 2,670,819, granted March 2,1954, and the clamping device described herein is useful in connectionwith reinforcing trusses of the type disclosed in our copendingapplication.

An object of the present invention is to devise a re leasable clamp forsecuring a form panel to the reinforcing truss in a concrete structure,thereby avoiding the necessity for the use of external support for thepanel.

Another object is to devise a clamp which may be easily removed from theformed concrete structure without leaving projecting metal parts to becut away.

The invention may be explained in connection with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the clamp as used to fasten thepouring form panels to the truss structure;

Figure 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the clamp in theunlocked position; Figure 2a is a section of Figure 2 taken along theline a-a;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the bolt or main member of the clamp; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the rubber core of the clamp boltwhich forms the releasable latch member.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the clamp applied to hold a formpanel P in spaced relation to a truss struc ture, the fragmentary partsof the panel and the truss being shown in dotted lines. The panel P,shown in end elevation, is arranged parallel with one face of the trusswhich includes vertical stud runners spaced apart at regular intervals,only one stud runner being shown at 211. Each stud runner in one face ofthe truss is connected to a companion stud runner in the rear face byspaced transverse struts only one of which is shown at 2c. The studrunners preferably are formed of round rod stock.

The clamp comprises an elongated bolt 100 of round section extendingthrough a hole formed in the panel P and having a pair of helix jaws 101and 102 formed at the ends thereof for engaging a truss member, such asone of the vertical stud runners 2b. The ends of the helical jaws areseparated enough to receive the rod-like member 212 between them, and byturning the bolt about 90 in a clockwise direction about its axis, thejaws will become entwined about the stud and will effectively clamp thebolt to the stud. A ring 103 is secured to the belt 100 near the rearend and forms a head for the bolt against which the panel P is seated.The bolt 100 is slotted by a slot 104 (see Figure 3) from the rear endthereof to a point in front of the panel P, and the slotted portion ofthe bolt is also formed with a cylindrical bore 105.

A latching arrangement is provided for latching the panel P against thebolt head 103 by means of a pair of expandable latch members 106 and 107which are normally located within the slot 104 on opposite sides of thebolt and in front of the panel P. The arrangement for expanding thelatch members 106 and 107 into operative position includes an elongatedhandle 108 having one end thereof pivotally mounted in the slot 104 ofthe bolt by means of a pin 109. The short end of the handle whichoperates within the slot 104 serves as a cam surface pressing against aball element 110 located within the bore 105. In the modification shownin the drawing, the latch elements 106 and 107 are formed as oppositelyextending, lateral ribs on a cylindrical plug 111 formed of resilientbut distortable material such as rubber, the plug being shown inperspective in Figure 4. Plug111 is normally designed to fit snuglywithin the bore 105 and the ribs 106 and 107 normally do not extendbeyond the outer surface of the bolt 100, see Figures 2 and 2a.

With the handle 108 arranged at right angles to the bolt 100, as shownin Figure 2, no pressure is applied to the plug 111 through the ball110, audit will be understood that the handle of the clamp must be inthis position when the bolt of the clamp is to be passed through thehole in the panel P and clamped to the truss member. After the helixjaws have been brought into locking engagement with the stud runner, thehandle 108 is moved fro-m the position shown in Figure 2 to the positionshown in Figure 1 where the cam end of the handle pushes the ball 110against the plug 111. The pressure on the plug 111 distorts the plugsand forces the ribs 106 and 107 radially outward into the latchingpositions shown in Figure 1. Thus, the panel P is securely clampedagainst the bolt head 103 and held in proper spaced relation withrespect to the truss stud 2b. It will be understood that other clampsmay be used for supporting a similar panel on the opposite side of thetruss, and that after concrete has been poured between the two panelsand has become set, the pouring form panels may be removed simply bymoving the handle 108 of the clamp to the position shown in Figure 2 andthen turning it in a direction to unscrew the helix jaws from the trussmember. Removal of the pressure on the plug 111 when the handle is movedto the position of Figure 2 allows the latching ribs 106 and 107 torecede into the slot 104-, and by turning the handle 108 in acounterclockwise direction, the bolt may be disengaged from the trussmember, and the clamp may be withdrawn from the formed concrete and fromthe panel P.

It will be understood that expandable latching members 106 and 107 couldbe formed of mechanical elements normally biased to a position withinthe slot 104 and being movable by the ball 110 to the latching position,but we prefer to use the latching arrangement described above for thereason that the distortable rubber plug 11.1 completely fills all of theclearance spaces between the latching elements and the slot in the bolt,thereby preventing concrete from entering these spaces.

We claim:

1. A clamp device comprising a round bolt having a pair of helical jawsformed at the forward end thereof and adapted for entwined engagementwith a rod-like member to be clamped, a shoulder on said bolt near theother end thereof and forming an annular clamping seat, the rear end ofsaid bolt having a central bore formed therein extending forwardlybeyond the said shoulder, a latching element normally positioned withina slot formed in said bolt in front of said shoulder and being'movableradially out of said slot into clamping relation with said shoulder, anoperating member for said latching element mounted within said bore, anda handle member mounted on the rear end of said bolt for moving saidoperating member within said bore.

2. A clamp according to claim 1 wherein said latch operating meansincludes an element movable in said.

3 bore, a handle pivotally mounted upon the rear end of said bolt andhaving a cam portion engaging said movable member and operable to causesaid movable element to expand said latching means when said handle ismoved from a position at right angles to the bolt to a position inalignment with said bolt.

3. A clamp in accordance with claim 2 wherein said handle member assumesa position substantially at right angles to said bolt in order toretract said latching element, whereby said handle member may also beused to turn said bolt in order to engage and disengage said helicaljaws and said rod-like member.

4. A clamp according to claim 1 wherein said radially movable latchingmeans comprises a rubber plug positioned in said bore and havinglaterally extending ribs positioned within said slot on opposite sidesof said bore, and the operating means for said latching means comprisesmeans for compressing said plug along its length and thereby forcingsaid ribs radially outward into clamping relation with said shoulder.

5. A clamping device comprising a bolt provided at one end with jawsconsisting of a pair of oppositely positioned projecting teeth, eachtooth projecting helically in the same direction axially of the bolt,the inner faces of the teeth being spaced to permit a bar to be insertedtherebetween and the dimension across the outer faces of the teeth beingsubstantially the outer diameter of the bolt, the center portion of thebar being provided with a pair of oppositely positioned slots and anannular shoulder adjacent thereto with the slots positioned between theshoulder and said one end of the bolt, the bolt being hollow from thatportion containing the slots to the other end, radially expansiblelatching means positioned within the bolt adjacent the slots, and meansconnected to said other end of the bolt to expand said latching means 7through said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATESPATENTS 676,785Toelpe June 18, 1 901 1,245,361 Lutz Nov. 6, 1917 1,676,775 Doherty July10, 1928 2,029,147 Anderson u Jan. 28, 1936 2,098,686 Holm Nov. 9, 1937

